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�鶹��Ƶ, through the Department of Continuing Education, offers life-long learning opportunities to any adult, regardless of his/her educational background. A wide variety of programs are offered to provide opportunities for individuals to develop to their fullest potential whatever vocational, intellectual or cultural talents they wish.

Courses are designed to provide educational opportunities to prepare individuals for entry into an occupation, to retrain or upgrade the skill of those who are already employed, or to provide cultural and general interest courses for self-improvement. These non-curriculum classes may vary in length.

Continuing Education courses may be organized on or off campus, day or night, based upon the interest shown by the community, the availability of competent instructors, and the limitations of available equipment, space, and funds.

Attendance

A minimum enrollment of 10 persons is needed to conduct a class. Adults are expected to attend class regularly. Insufficient enrollment may result in cancellation of the class.

Certificates

College is not granted for completion of courses in the Department of Continuing Education. However, certificates are awarded to students who successfully complete course requirements in classes which carry CEU credits. Licenses, diplomas, or other forms of recognition are awarded by certain agencies outside the College upon successful completion of outstanding debts to the college.

Continuing Education Units (CEU)

The Continuing Education Department will award Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) for the successful completion of appropriate courses. The CEU was designed to recognize and record individual land institutional participation in non-traditional studies and special activities. The CEU is a recognized recording method for substantive non-credit learning experiences. A CEU is defined as “10 hours of participation in an organized Continuing Education experience under responsible sponsorship and qualified instruction or direction”.

Admissions

In general, all Continuing Education courses are open for enrollment to all persons 18 years of age or older, or persons 16 years of age with written permission from their school principal. However, because some specialty courses and advanced courses may be more difficult and require a greater degree of preparation, potential enrollees should be aware of the nature of course requirements in order to determine their possible success in the proposed course.

In certain specialized courses, including Advance Technology Training, Apprenticeship, EMS, Fire Services Training, Law Enforcement Training, Management Development Training, and New & Expanding Industrial Training, potential students must be employed or recommended by one of the requesting training agencies.

Registration

Official registration will be held at the first class meeting except for those classes that require preregistration.

Students should notify the Continuing Education Department by phone, letter, email or personal visit for class registration information and schedules. A course schedule is published each semester. Brochures are placed in appropriate areas throughout the county, shared on the College website; courses may be advertised in local newspapers or on local radio stations.

Registration Fees

Registration fees for Continuing Education courses are set by the North Carolina Legislature, and are subject to change. Registration fees are listed in all publications advertising upcoming courses. Fees are non-refundable, except when the class fails to make. An extra charge may be necessary in some courses for books, material, and class supplies. Books and supplies may be purchased in the College bookstore.

Registration fees for occupational, practical skills, avocational, and academic course depend on the number of hours for the course. Self-supporting fees will vary, depending on the course. Registration fees for community service classes will vary, depending on the course.

*Senior Citizens, 65 years of age and older, are fee exempt, except for classes that are self- supporting.

Locations

A number of Continuing Education classes are held at �鶹��Ƶ. Others are conducted throughout McDowell County at county fire departments, local public schools, community centers, churches, industries, businesses, or where ever a suitable meeting place can be arranged. Classes will be organized in any community whenever a sufficient number of prospective students indicate an interest.

Instructors

All Continuing Education classes will be taught by qualified instructors. This would include leaders from the community in civic, cultural, educational, industrial, and business fields, as well as persons skilled or knowledgeable in particular areas of interest.

All instructors will hold a bachelors equivalent or will be highly experienced and qualified. All academic and technical programs will require minimum of a bachelor’s degree and demonstrated technical ability. Recreational and vocational extension programs will require demonstrated proficiency in the area of instruction.

Instructors are responsible for planning and teaching in an exemplary manner the courses for which they are employed. They must maintain all records necessary for conducting Continuing Education classes �鶹��Ƶ.

General Adult and Community Service

The College is always concerned with identifying community potentials and community needs, drawing together resources at the College and other agencies to create new educational opportunities. Programs afford the opportunity for individuals to gain personal satisfaction through self-advancement. This includes opportunities to grow intellectually, to develop creative skills or talent, to learn hobby or leisure time activities, and to gain civic and cultural awareness. The general types of programs offered are as follows:

• Academic Courses
• Consumer Education
• Personal Business Education
• Health and Safety Education
• Citizenship Development Courses
• Language Arts Education
• �鶹��Ƶmaking Education
• Creative Arts Education
• Family Life Programs
• Music/Dance Programs

Self-Supporting Classes

Self-supporting classes are designed to address local requests that cannot be offered through other continuing education programs.

All students taking the course are charged a pro-rata share of the cost of offering the coursework. (No tuition exemptions apply to self-supporting classes). All funds collected to offer and support self-supporting classes are deposited to a local account and all expenses are paid from this local account. All funds collected through self-supporting classes are used to support coordination, professional development and the operational costs of offering self-supporting classes. Operational costs include: instructional costs, coordination, supplies, materials, equipment, and professional development of faculty.

Examples of self-supporting classes are: Defensive Driving, Insurance, Concealed Handgun, recreational classes and a variety of special offerings that otherwise cannot be addressed through regular continuing education programs. No budgetary FTE is earned through the offering of self-supporting classes. MTCC can offer most any type of course that is cost-prohibitive through other continuing education programs.

Emergency Services Training

�鶹��Ƶ provides a wide range of Emergency Services Training opportunities to meet the continuing education training needs of area emergency services personnel.

Fire Service Training

The College offers all course and training requirements to obtain Firefighter Level II and Instructor certification including offering of over 150 courses annually in virtually every area of fire training. Also, the College holds the annual McDowell Fire and Rescue College.

Emergency Medical Service Training

MTCC offers the following levels of Emergency Medical Services Training: EMT, EMT- Intermediate, and EMT-Paramedic. In addition to these programs, the College offers over 100 courses annually in the areas of CPR Certification, First Aid Certification, CPR Recertification and Communicable Disease Training to help local government and industry leaders meet OSHA requirements.

MTCC also provides in-service training opportunities to meet local recertification requirements. Advanced training opportunities are available including: Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), International Trauma Life Support (ITLS), and other specialty courses.

Rescue Training

MTCC offers Rescue Technician (RT) certification and other specialty related classes for the Rescue Service. Specialty classes available for Rescue personnel are Ropes, Trench, Structural Collapse, and Confined Space Rescue.

Law Enforcement Training

MTCC provides a number of training opportunities to local Law Enforcement personnel. In-service training classes are provided to Marion PD, McDowell County Sheriff’s Department, Old Fort PD, and Department of Corrections (DOC) officers to meet continuing education needs. The College currently offers training opportunities in all areas of re-certification.